It’s a delight to welcome all of you here this morning to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus.  This is a big day for Christians and for anyone who is attracted to the message of Good News that was first shared with our world by angels and a rag-tag group of women and men about the known, but still mysterious figure, Jesus of Nazareth.

On that first Easter morning the disciples came to the tomb of Jesus and found it empty.  They came expecting to find a body and instead they found emptiness.  Now I have to tell you that I have preached many Easter sermons about the empty tomb.  The empty tomb is a compelling image.

Think about going to a funeral home for what they euphemistically call “visiting hours.”  The casket is there; the flowers are all around giving off an odor that usually reminds me of some overdone perfume, “Eau de Death.”  You walk up to the casket, look in, prepared to say something like, “I haven’t seen Pat look that good in years,” and instead as you peer in all you see is the fake satin sheets, the slight indentation where a body had been and that’s it.  Your first and most natural reaction is, “Someone has taken the body away.”  Probably you would not think the body had been stolen, just misplaced in some other “Slumber Room” as the funeral homes refer to them.

Although I was recently in Memphis, Tennessee and visited the Elvis Presley estate and learned that Elvis’ body had been moved to the estate from a cemetery about a mile away because the heirs were concerned about grave robbers.  And with the fanatical devotion that some people have to Elvis, I can envision that happening.

At least according to some accounts, stealing Jesus body was a concern of some of Jesus disciples as well a fear of his enemies in the religious and political establishment.  Now if I am not careful I will be preaching another sermon on the empty tomb and I really don’t want to do that because the truth is that the empty tomb on Easter, just like the empty casket at the funeral home, could be accounted for by several different explanations….stolen body, wrong tomb or casket, practical joke, or the person got up and walked away because of not really being dead in the first place.  There are plenty of rational arguments that can be spun in order to convince the skeptic why the empty tomb does not prove that Jesus was resurrected from the dead.

What convinced the disciples that Jesus was resurrected was not the empty tomb.  It was the fact that they experienced the real presence of Jesus, who was the same person as before his death, but now bore the marks of his crucifixion.  Another change in Jesus was that he would mysteriously appear in the midst of his followers, even when they were assembled behind locked doors.  The disciples knew they had experienced Jesus and they had no doubts about the fact that this was the same person they had known before his crucifixion.  And the same is true for any follower of Jesus.  As a believer I can tell you that there have been times and circumstances in my life when I have known that Jesus was with me.

But I cannot prove that presence in a way that would convince those of you who are skeptics.  Rational arguments just do not work.  [Three flowers are plucked from the display in front of the Cathedral altar] Consider these flowers.  These are lovely flowers and from where you are sitting they probably looks real.   And there is a sense in which they are real but these flowers are not natural flowers.  I slipped them into the floral display before the service began.  These flowers are a product of human ingenuity.  They have been designed and fabricated of cloth and plastic.

I’m sure everyone here would agree that designing and manufacturing these very realistic looking flowers took someone or some group with great skill and intelligence. But look at the incredible beauty of all the flowers that adorn this Cathedral this morning.  These are all real flowers…no synthetics here but a skeptic would say that these magnificent flowers are just the result random acts of nature rather than attributable to a divine Creator who lovi9ngly created and compassionately redeems the whole bright earth.

We can listen to this stupendous organ and marvel at the intelligence and mastery it takes to design and play such an awesome musical instrument.  Yet in observing the beauty of nature and the sights and sounds of the universe, skeptics will maintain that it all happened by chance.

My point it that it is easy for any of us, skeptics or not, to readily appreciate the intelligence exemplified by human creativity but to be critically predisposed to reject the miracles that are sent our way daily by God.  I believe we are constantly confronted by miracles and the resurrection is the miracle of all miracles.  Explain it away if you like but we would not be here today if it were not for countless people over these last 2000 years who encountered the risen Christ in their lives.

The angel at the empty tomb explained that the risen Jesus had gone ahead of the disciples and would meet them in Galilee.  Put another way, what is being said is that Jesus who died in the past has been raised in the present and he goes ahead of the disciples to Galilee where he will meet them in the future.  Past, present and future find their focus in Jesus.

Jesus is still ahead of us.  We are not stuck with whatever our past may have been.  We are not mired in the problems of our present.  Jesus has gone ahead of us and will meet us in our future.  And more than that, the risen Christ is open to all people.

Peter in that little speech we heard read this morning from the Book of Acts affirms a truth he learned from his encounters with the risen Christ.  Peter says, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”

Put in a bit more contemporary terms what Peter is saying is that it does not matter where you come from, what your pedigree might be, what your age or gender might be, it does not matter if you are straight or gay, married, divorced, partnered, widowed or single, or what your political party might be, and it does not matter what your personal history has been.  God accepts one and all who look to God with hope and anticipation.  God accepts any of us who in our own lives are trying to do justice, love others, and generally do what is right and good.  And even if we are somewhat lacking, this Jesus who was raised from the dead is still willing to forgive us our sins.

That my friends is Good News.  All of us are in the process of being made whole (the religious word for this is redemption).  Nothing in our life is the final word, not even death itself in whatever forms it presents itself to us.  The risen Jesus heals our past, informs our present, and waits to transform our future.

The only proof I can give of the resurrection is somewhat tangential but it points to the living reality that is the resurrection.  What the resurrected Christ did was to empower his followers to continue his work, be bearers of his love, be healers in his name, and work for justice and peace in the world.  Christians have been killed, persecuted, ridiculed, reviled and dismissed but still the Good News lives on and in 2000 years of trying all those governments and individuals who have attempted to eliminate Christianity from the face of the earth have failed.

There are billions of people (some of whom are right here this morning) who will tell you that because of meeting the living Christ and experiencing his forgiving love they have been able to put their past behind them and begin again.  They have peace of mind and a life purpose that helps them meet the challenges of each and every day.

There are schools, hospitals, day care centers, feeding programs, nursing and retirement homes, empowerment programs, support groups like AA and NA and other similar groups, orphanages, universities, libraries, and the list goes on and on and on of organizations and efforts for good that trace their origin to people who were inspired to do something good in the name of the risen Christ.

Easter is all about new life.  Jesus has defeated the forces of death and in his great love he calls each of us by name and invites us to new life here and now and forever.  Be attentive to his call to you on this Easter Day.  If you need more proof about the resurrection, the only way you will find it is to take a risk and start looking for signs of the resurrection in your own life.

Jesus will come to you, to your future and say to you the same thing he has said to so many down through the ages, “Follow me.”  He will set you at tasks which will demand your best efforts and in the challenges, the conflicts and sometimes the suffering you endure, with him as your companion you will discover not only the truth of who Jesus is but that by his grace and love, you are eternally his.  Christ is risen and he calls you and me to journey with him today and forever.  AMEN